Abstract
Atmospheric benzene and carbonyls were studied in San Nicolas de los Garza, Nuevo Leon, during 2011 and 2012. The relative abundance for measured VOCs was the following: formaldehyde (9.06 µg m−3) > acetaldehyde (8.06 µg m−3) > benzene (0.65 µg m−3). All measured VOCs had a clear seasonal trend with higher values of concentration during summer. Benzene and formaldehyde had a marked diurnal trend with the highest levels during morning, whereas acetaldehyde did not show a clear diurnal pattern. Meteorological analysis showed that the dominant winds came from NNE and ENE, suggesting that sources located in these directions contribute to the VOC levels. Principal component analysis (PCA) analysis revealed that photochemical activity influenced benzene and carbonyl levels during summer and that benzene was associated with vehicular traffic emissions during autumn and winter, showing good correlation with CO. Meteorological data showed that measured VOCs were influenced by regional sources. A health risk assessment showed that local exposure to carbonyls and benzene exceeded 1 × 10−6 for integrated lifetime cancer risk. People living in San Nicolas de los Garza, thus, have a probable risk of suffering cancer in their lifetime. It is, therefore, necessary to improve environmental policies for controlling VOC levels in this area.
Highlights
Since volatile organic compounds (VOCs) play an important role in the photochemical production of O3 and other tropospheric oxidants [1], it is crucial to characterize their sources and distribution in the urban atmosphere
Concentrations of benzene during summer may be explained by the potential contribution Diurnalevaporation, and seasonal variation parametric for to measured benzene are shown in normally of fuel and solvent whichand increases in statistics response the higher temperatures
Over the entire sampling period, formaldehyde was more abundant than acetaldehyde with concentrations of 9.06 μg m−3 and 8.06 μg m−3, respectively
Summary
Since volatile organic compounds (VOCs) play an important role in the photochemical production of O3 and other tropospheric oxidants [1], it is crucial to characterize their sources and distribution in the urban atmosphere. VOCs in urban atmospheres include a variety of compounds including carbonyls and benzene These anthropogenic pollutants have adverse effects on human health [2,3]. Automobile emissions and area sources (open burning and forest fires; evaporation losses of volatile liquids in storage tanks; smaller facilities; utilization, storage and transport of solvents; among others) have been recognized as the dominant primary sources of VOCs [4,8,9]. Secondary formation of these compounds by photochemical reactions constitute another important source
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